Few Booths Left for 2013 Made in Montana Marketplace"The Marketplace is a high priority trade show for many Montana producers. We see a good mix of exhibitors because the exposure is so valuable. It's a venue that is completely and authentically Montana which is a proven marketing tool and it's very accessible to local producers," Meg O'Leary, Director of the Montana Department of Commerce

Navigating an ocean of Big DataTraditional spreadsheets can't do real time analysis. Nor can custom-built reports that connect to a legacy enterprise database. Old-school static legacy analytics tools can only provide so much insight at a time. They can't iterate results fast enough in situations where data flows in like a firehose.

News from the Montana Small Business Development Centers"Our SBDC Directors and Business Advisors assist clients every day with the preparation or fine-tuning of business plans, financial management, operations assistance, loan applications and marketing initiatives. The SBDCs are dedicated to helping small businesses throughout Montana achieve their dreams of growth, expansion, innovation and success. The SBDC Network combines the resources of federal, state and local organizations with that of the educational system and private sector to meet the specialized and complex needs of the small business community....

Website key to attracting employers to MissoulaFor companies considering a relocation or expansion, the new site features a wealth of detailed factual information to help build a case for Missoula and ease the process of making a move to our community.

Montana Tax News You Can UseGreetings from Revenue Director Mike Kadas
On January 7, I began serving the people of Montana as Director of the Department of Revenue. I'm honored and humbled to work in this capacity for the great state of Montana.

North Dakota Business and Economic Development

North Dakota Went BoomFor many years North Dakota has been a frontier -- not the classic 19th-century kind based on American avarice and the lure of opportunity in unsettled lands, but the kind that comes afterward, when a place has been stripped bare or just forgotten because it was a hard garden that no one wanted too much to begin with, and now it has reverted to the wilderness that widens around dying towns.

University of Montana & Montana State University Tech Transfer

Building an Effective University Commercialization OrganizationUniversities are one of the few organizations out there who have deep pockets but are not profit driven, are not held to a firm bottom line, nor made accountable for return on investment (how many "former VCs" do you bump into these days at conferences?). Warts and all, as startups must compete with other startups in a big patent arms race, universities continue to foot the bill to pay patent costs for startups that will likely never be able to pay them back.

21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."

Data helps teachers learn about kindergartners' abilities"I think what's exciting about this data is that we have it at all. We have not had a common data set for kindergartners, ever." Kathe Taylor, director of early learning assessment for the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Bill Gates: Invest in better teachingThis year, my letter focuses on how important it is to set clear goals and measure progress in order to accomplish the foundation's priorities, both here at home and around the world.

Feds: Warming imperils wolverinesIn recent years, Montana wildlife officials have waged court battles against environmentalists who want to stop trapping. If Friday's proposal goes through following a public comment period, wolverine trapping would be banned.

Will the Chief Innovation Officer Transform Government? "...look at your own government data. That is a treasure trove if you let private entrepreneurs at it. They can create apps for you. That is an economic opportunity we need to take." Berliner said it will require a change in culture in terms of how the county does business internally."